The first African Caribbean woman to be elected to Parliament, Diane Abbott MP advises on how to pursue a career in politics. I've been interested in politics from a very young age. Since junior school, really. I suppose I've been involved in politics, in a real sense, all my life.
My role models are my immediate female relatives. There is a generation of them who came to this country in the '50s - my mother was a nurse, many of my aunts and a few of my cousins are nurses - and worked extremely hard and brought up their families and showed tremendous commitment and courage, making it possible for my generation to do what we have done. So my immediate role models are older women in my family.
I think education is absolutely key. I was active in student politics. When I came down from Cambridge, I got involved in campaigns against police brutality and so on. So, I've always been interested and I've always been involved.
I suppose I first thought of becoming an MP in the mid-'80s. My interest in politics stems from wanting to make a difference.
At the time, there were no African or Asian people in Parliament. There had never been any people of African or Caribbean descent in Parliament. Some of us as Black Labour Party members were campaigning for more Black representation. People said to us, well, there's nobody that wants to stand, why don't you stand? So, that's how the issue first came up for me.
When you take the next step in your career, you are very conscious of having moved forward. Obviously, one was very elated because one was conscious that it was historic.
The positive thing about being an African Caribbean woman MP is that people do remember who you are. The obverse of this is that you can get singled out. Things that a white male MP could do, and nobody would remark on it, if you do it, it becomes a big issue. So you have to be very, very careful in these situations, your personal life and so on. You are very easily singled out.
I think, like most working women, it is very difficult to combine parenthood with any type of job, really. The problem with being an MP is the very long and uncertain hours. You might be here till eleven or twelve, you might finish earlier. So that's been a difficulty.
I think any Black professional who says they haven't experienced racism is lying. It's partly that people tend to pre-judge you. And it's partly that you're not necessarily part of the club, the inner circle. I think that holds true for any profession.
